1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer system and method for enabling uniform access to and ready distribution of medical images and associated records in electronic form via a network, such as an intranet or the Internet, from multiple heterogenous and incompatible existing server systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Handling of medical images, and of associated medical information, has been profoundly changed by the impact of digital and computer technologies. But in the current state of the art, these technologies have not resulted in uniform system by which a user can readily access medical image information from multiple and incompatible existing server systems.
Picture Archiving and Communication and Radiology Information Systems
Medical images are currently acquired by diverse imaging technologies and methods, including, for example, such methods as X-ray imaging, computed X-ray tomography, radioisotope emission imaging, computed emission tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound imaging, and so forth. With increasing prevalence, medical images acquired by these and other methods are being directly acquired in or converted into digital form for storage and retrieval.
Current computer systems for storage and retrieval of such digital medical images (generically named Picture Archiving and Communication, or "PAC", systems), typically have large amounts of digital storage, a processor for storing and indexing images, and user workstations attached directly, or across a network, to the PAC systems for image display. These systems have usually been designed with a client-server, or two-tiered, structures. In such structures, the workstations, acting on the second-tier as image clients, run specific software designed for interacting with a specific